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More than 50 Children Die in a Nursing Home in Sudan

Staff Writer

The Maigoma was supported by donations from the Sudanese and some charitable organizations until 2009 when disputes arose with the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Sudanese government became directly responsible for it.

The case of the death of dozens of children inside an orphanage recently shook public opinion in Sudan.

Sudanese media quoted the director of the “Maigoma” house, Mona Abdullah, as confirming the high death rate, as the real number of children who died during November reached 31, while 11 children died in December, and 12 deaths were recorded among children during January.

It is noteworthy that “Al-Maigoma” is a primary care home for orphaned and deprived children, in which health services and social care are provided to them, including housing, food, etc. until the age of five, after which the child is transferred to other homes.

The Maigoma was established in 1961 with a maximum capacity of 400 children. The state had no hand in supporting the home, as it was running with the support of Sudanese donations and some charitable organizations such as the French “Doctors Without Borders” organization, whose contribution to the management of the home amounted to 3 million dollars until 2077, and the “I am Sudan” organization, which took over the task of managing the home until the year 2009.

After disputes between the organization and the Ministry of Social Affairs, the house was transferred to the ministry, and the Sudanese government became directly responsible for it.

After the organizations abandoned the home’s support, it was badly affected, as significant financial support was absent, an administrative imbalance occurred, and workers’ salaries were delayed, which led to some of them leaving. This was accompanied by a high rate of mortality among infants. Some attributed this to the lack of money and the high number of children, as what was previously owned by one child is now shared by four, starting with housing and food, through clothing and medicine, and ending with nurses and nannies.

Administrative Error

The head of the “Take My Hand Organization for Children,” Afkar Omar Mustafa, visited the home following the shocking information about the deaths and explained that the home suffers from an administrative defect.
Mustafa told Al-Arabiya.net that “the house needs a volunteer office that includes voluntary and charitable bodies and undertakes the tasks of following up on the shortage, as well as following up on children in hospitals, in addition to being responsible for entertainment programs as it was in the past.”

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